HOMESTORES' Graham Tappenden had an Easter weekend to remember.

First he triumphed in the Witherington Teams of Four with a huge 81lb 6oz of carp, before following it up the next day by taking The Reel Care Winter Series Final on the match lake at Broadlands with a massive 88lb 5oz.

Tappenden's victory at Broadlands saw him bag one of the biggest individual payouts on the local circuit when he collected the £1,000 first prize. Drawn on peg 22 Tappenden started on the pole and corn and at the halfway stage was probably 20lb behind the leader, Steve Rochester.

A switch to maggot in the last three hours saw a steady stream of carp come to the net with Tappenden's 88lb 5oz just enough to outstay Rochester's 83lb 2oz.

Cormorants Team Sillybaits' Rochester got off to a flyer, fishing corn and pole on peg 16, but had no answer to Tappenden's power-packed finish which left him with the second place prize-money of £500. Cormorants' Rick Kajko finished third with 49lb 9oz of carp on the pole and corn from peg 20 with Hansford's Chalkie White fourth with 36lb 5oz.

Tappenden's other victory came in the Witherington Farms Teams of Four on Tony Beeny's Witherington Farm fishery, which saw a string of big weights. Tappenden fished nine-metre pole and corn on the in-form Cottage Lake to take a succession of carp to 5lb from peg 7 to take a huge 81lb 6oz to the scales for a win by a comfortable margin.

Carbotech's Alex Murray finished second with 71lb 13oz of carp mainly caught late on a mixture of waggler and pole tactics from peg 5 on Cottage. Poingdestres' Steve Pomery turned in a tremendous performance on the inner ring on Topmoor to take 68lb 2oz of small carp on the pole and soft pellet with Kev Downer (TVAC) fourth with 52lb 12oz of carp from Cottage.

On the day Carbotech were convincing winners with 41 points from Witherington Select with 38 points with Homestores and Barneys Blacks equal third with 32 points.

With just one match remaining in the series Witherington Select lead with 248.5 from last year's winners' Poingdestres on 243.

Homestores' Ray Hayward, pictured right, produced a phenomenal performance to win the 100-peg Fish O Mania qualifier on Barford Lake, Norfolk and collect £750 in prize-money plus a place in the £25,000 winner-takes-all final that will be shown live on Sky Sports 2 on August 2.

With past Fish O Mania final winners Nathan Watson and Phil Ringer within a few pegs of Hayward he attacked the venue from the start, fishing waggler and meat up in the water. A 5lb fish on his first chuck was followed by a succession of fish to 13lb to finish with a phenomenal 215lb 5oz of carp with Phil Ringer a remote second with 151lb 6oz.

Eastleigh's Stoneham Lakes have improved beyond recognition in the last three years since the club launched a major ongoing stocking policy and last week's matches were excellent.

The four-hour evening open on the Bottom Lake saw Eastleigh's Alan Pragnall take a massive 70lb 8oz of tench and crucians from peg 5 around the island on pole and corn to more than double the weight of his nearest rival. Mick Kenney finished second with 33lb 10oz, which included two carp from peg 11 on the pole and corn.

The Stoneham Pairs on the Bottom and Top Lakes saw Mick Marsh score a runaway victory with 62lb 2oz of mixed tench, crucians and skimmers from peg 11 on the pole and corn from the Bottom Lake. Terry Hewitt fished waggler on peg 100 on the Top Lake to take a mainly skimmer and tench bag for 45lb 2oz. Rich Allen fished the Bottom Lake on pole and corn to take 42lb 5oz of skimmers, tench and crucians for third.

In the pairs, Mick Marsh and Alan Pragnall were clear winners with 91lb 5oz from Andy Gremlin and Alan Hillman with 52lb 7oz, with Terry Hewitt and Dean Rowden third with 45lb 10oz.

The Salmon Leap Angling Club held a match at Manor Farm Fishery which saw the top two anglers finish well clear of their field.

Ian Elcock took carp, bream and bits on corn and worm on the pole on peg 25 to take 38lb 11oz to the scales, which included a carp to 10lb 3oz. Manor Farm's Roger Mills took a superb 22lb 4oz mirror carp on corn and worm, plus a smaller carp and bits and pieces on peg 19 fishing the waggler, to finish second with the consistent Mark Baker third with 9lb 8oz of tench and bream.

Tony Beeny's Topmoor Match Fishery on his Witherington Farm complex remains in top form and the latest open saw 60lb needed to frame.

Sean Stockley (Pewsey AC) took carp to 6lb on meat and pole from peg 47 to take 84lb 8oz to the scales from Christchurch AC's Mick Keynes who weighed in 75lb 5oz on pole and corn from peg 60. Match organiser John Gray finished third with 63lb 3oz of carp to 3lb on band and pellet.

Marshall Rolfe Team Toyota's globetrotting all-rounder Dave Higgins has just returned from a three-week break on the tropical Caribbean island of Tobago where a 13lb red snapper proved to be a personal best. The fish ended up as the main course at a dinner party Higgins and Echo correspondent Mark Simmonds threw before leaving to come back to England.

Fishing aboard Simmonds' inshore boat Grand Slam and his 32ft offshore boat Grand Slam II, the pair accounted for 20 species including dorado to 30lb, wahoo to 21lb and king fish fish to 17lb.